Find Me by the Flowers
by HGlitz
Summary: Ash, Misty, and Brock are on a mini-vacation in Pallet Town when a crisis strikes Kanto in the form of a mysterious illness.  Meanwhile, Gary Oak is looking for the research to push his career forward. Can he resolve the problem? Egoshipping  eventually !


Disclaimer: I own not the Pokemons. :-P Seriously! Don't sue me, I'm a poor college student who will eventually be a poor teacher paying off her student loans. If I owned Pokemon, I wouldn't have student loans, probably. If only, if only...

**Find Me by the Flowers**

A Fanfiction by Hglitz

**Chapter 1 – The Beginning**

Pallet Town may not be the most exciting of towns in Kanto, but what person in their right mind would complain about its serenity? Ash knew exactly where he could go when he needed a break; they say home is where the heart is, but for Ash, home also happened to be where his sanity grounded itself. This morning was proving to be no different than any other Pallet morning. It was a warm and very obviously spring. There was a cool breeze blowing, with a light aroma of newly-bloomed lilacs wafting gently through the air. A flock of Pidgey, quite preoccupied with their morning worm routine, flapped about in the field behind Ash's house, pecking expertly for their breakfast. A person would be hard-pressed to find a quainter scene in all of Kanto.

Ash, Misty, and Brock sat together on the grass of his front yard taking in what they could of the glorious morning. This was only day one of a week's worth of relaxation. They had arrived late in the night, and gone straight to bed upon arrival. Well, almost straight to bed… Delia Ketchum ambushed them on their way up the stairs. What followed was her required hour of mothering. This meant showing Misty and Brock where the shower was (even though this was not their first extended visit), asking Ash if he had clean underwear, and offering to make them all a late dinner.

Mrs. Ketchum always treated Misty and Brock as though they were her own children; though, thankfully, not so much as to ask them about their underwear!

Ash was sitting up with his legs crossed in front of him, watching Pikachu explore the front yard. He wore his familiar hat, with a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. His sneakers, well-worn from his journey, showed sign of holes developing. They would need to be replaced soon. His black, unruly hair spiked out from underneath the hat. His hair and its styling always proved to be a topic of much debate in the Ketchum household, and like his underwear, some things never changed. His mom had harassed him about its length last night, and threatened at breakfast to schedule an appointment with the barber.

"Respectable trainers keep their hair at a respectable length! Look at Brock's hair!" Mrs. Ketchum argued, gesturing towards Brock's shorter hair. It was hopeless. Ash liked his hair a bit longer.

Brock was also sitting on the grass, staring off into the distance. His khaki cargo pants were in considerably good shape , considering the miles of travel they'd been through. His black and orange jacket rested loosely overtop his faded army-green shirt. Brock mindlessly lifted his right arm and ran his large hand through his hair, leaning his head back to take in the friendly sunshine. Much like a Sunflora taking in sun for photosynthesis, Brock was enjoying the warmth the sun provided. It was refreshing to stop and take in nature; he'd forgotten what it was like to truly enjoy it for what it was. They spent so much time going from point A to point B, that there was hardly any time to stop and smell the roses.

Misty, unlike the two men, was sprawled out on her back enjoying the sun. She wore a yellow t-shirt and jean shorts, her hair red hair worn in a high side ponytail, as usual. She had thought about donning a sundress or a nicer pair of jeans, something casual but nice, but there simply wasn't a reason to do so. It was vacation! Dressing to impress could wait. She wasn't a big fan of wearing dresses, anyway, and when she did, she made sure to keep it simple. Her sisters always tried to get her to try on big dresses with so many complicated parts you'd need an instruction manual to figure the dress out. She wanted none of that business. She always thought that a pokemon trainer should be less concerned with his or her wardrobe, and more concerned with his or her pokemon. If her sisters thought less about their closets full of prom dresses and mermaid outfits, they'd probably be much better gym leaders!

Pikachu sneezed.

"Bless you!" Misty called out.

"Pika-pi! Pi-ka chu!" Pikachu yelled out, cheerfully.

Brock's concentration broke. "You know Ash, Pikachu's been sneezing a lot these past few days."

Ash didn't respond, continuing to watch Pikachu running around the yard.

"Ash!" Brock said, assertively.

Ash snapped back to reality, shaking his head back and forth at the sound of his name. "Huh? What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Pikachu. He's been sneezing a lot," Brock repeated patiently.

"Huh… yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe it's allergies," Ash guessed, shrugging.

"I don't know, Ash. It's kind of strange…" Brock said, some discomfort peaking through is voice.

Misty rolled over to her side and pushed herself up into a sitting position, now fully joining in the conversation. "You know… it really is kind of strange… he's never really done this before, right?"

"I guess not… but he seems fine. I mean, look at him! And he's been eating normally," Ash asserted. Pikachu had been sneezing more often than one might consider 'normal' the past few days, but he was otherwise the same old Pikachu. Completely energetic, obsessed with ketchup, and social as ever. Even now, he was running around, playing with a Ratata that had strayed into the yard. Nothing to be alarmed about. The Ratata seemed friendly enough, and wasn't causing anybody any harm. Pikachu and Ratata seemed to be enjoying one anothers company.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on—" Brock started, interrupted by small thump followed by a high pitched scream.

"RATA! RATATA!" cried Ratata frantically, running a circle around a pile of yellow fur. The pile of fur was shaking, but otherwise not moving.

"PIKACHU!" Ash yelled as he stood up quickly and charged over to the scene.

Brock and Misty followed on his heels, not sure what to expect. Pokemon just shouldn't faint if they aren't involved in a battle, especially so soon after having woken up. Pikachu was always exploding with energy, and even a few minutes earlier he'd been full of life. What could've possibly happened to cause his sudden collapse? Surely playing with Ratata couldn't have been the cause.

Ash ran so fast that he practically fell over when he tried to stop at Pikachu's side. Instead of falling, he slid on the grass, not unlike a baseball player sliding into home plate. Grass stains formed on his jeans, and torn-up grass clung to his body. He gently put his hands on Pikachu's sides. He was still breathing, weakly.

Brock and Misty skidded in behind Ash. The two looked over his shoulders and down at the yellow ball of fur.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Misty whispered, concern taking over her face.

"I don't know… he's passed out," Ash said, slowly rolling Pikachu onto his side, "I don't know what to do."

"We should take him to a Pokemon center," Brock suggested.

"The nearest Pokemon center is in Viridian…" Misty added hastily, "he needs attention, now!"

Pikachu's eyes slowly pulled open. He saw the three trainers crouched around him. The Ratata still stood off to the side, curious about the goings-on and worried about his new friend. A small feeling of relief crept up on the trainers as Pikachu moved to push himself back up. A conscious Pikachu was an improvement.

Pikachu didn't quite have the energy to sit up. As he moved to sit up, he fell back over, completely drained of energy. "Pii, Pi Pika," he slurred, sleepily.

Ash carefully picked Pikachu up and cradled him in his arms. Pikachu's breathing was shallow, and his whole body felt cold. He clearly needed medical attention. Viridian was too far of a travel to take on foot, and none of them had a car to make the drive. This was no time for a trek to Viridian. The trio looked down the road to the Mansion looming over the horizon. Professor Oak was the only person in town with the equipment necessary to heal pokemon when they were injured. It wasn't a pokemon center, but it was their best option on short notice.

"We can get professor Oak to help, he has the same equipment pokemon centers have!" Ash said hopefully, getting up from his crouching position with Pikachu firmly in his arms.

"Ash… this can't be normal, what if Pikachu is really sick?" Misty questioned, worry still darkening her face.

"Maybe he'll know what's going on. He's a pokemon professor… if anybody knows, he would, right? We should get going. We can decide where to go from there, once we've talked to the professor," Brock said. Brock, while perhaps a bit of a skirt chaser, was always the voice of reason when it came to serious situations. He was the oldest, and grew up taking care of his younger siblings. He knew how to keep cool in times of crisis. The trio turned to look at the mansion down the road. It wasn't a far run at all; they'd be there in 10 minutes.

The situation at the Oak mansion started out in a similar fashion: non-critical. It was, after all, a fantastic Saturday morning for exploring the wide relaxation options available. Gary Oak was, among other things, an expert in relaxation. Unfortunately, he didn't often get an opportunity to exercise his expertise. Being a pokemon researcher was tough. Long hours, the more-than-occasional sleepless nights, and dead ends made for a very stressful career. High blood pressure would surely become a legitimate reality for him if he didn't find ways to reduce his stress.

That's why it's handy to be an expert in the field.

Gary Oak exited from the kitchen to the living room carrying a plate of brownies, and a tall glass of milk. The brownies were cheesecake brownies. Terrible for the waistline, some may argue, but nobody could disagree that they were a fantastic comfort food. Gary didn't need to worry too much about gaining weight, anyway. He was very meticulous about his diet, and kept desserts for special occasions, even if it meant eating brownies in the morning. Today was a special occasion for him, and he was all prepared for an uneventful day of channel surfing. This was a day of well-deserved rest and relaxation for Gary, after having spent every waking hour in the lab over the preceding three days. Granted, he'd escaped for meals and a few hours sleep, but that was it. They had been making serious progress on their research surrounding seasonal evolution patterns lately, and Gary needed to log in more hours at the lab so that he and the older, greyer Oak could manage the large influx of new data coming in.

The life of a scientist. Breakthroughs always provided for exciting times at the Pokemon lab. Though he often logged in long hours, more often than not those hours were spent filling out paperwork and making observations on slow-running experiments. Gary liked research; research allowed him to learn more about the world of pokemon, a topic for which he obviously had always had great passion. Just, the method by which the research was conducted was often dull. He was currently working under Professor Oak to gain experience in the field. He would eventually have to branch out on his own and find his own way. And, as much as he loved his serene home town, he couldn't wait to get out of there and find another place for himself.

Gary set the brownies and milk down on the coffee table, grabbed the remote, and sat down on the couch. _'Finally!'_ he thought, pressing the power button on the remote control.

No response.

He pushed the button again, but still no response. Something was wrong here, something seriously wrong indeed. How could he relax and watch TV if he had to get up every time he wanted to change the channel or access the volume control? In desperation, and with waning hope, he rapidly pushed the button 5 more times. The screen remained black. He flipped the remote control over, pried off the back cover, and discovered an empty space where the batteries once resided. Gary groaned at the discovery. He knew who was responsible.

"May! Where'd you put the batteries to the remote control?" he barked, making sure his voice could be heard throughout the house.

Nobody responded_._

_ 'Of course. She went shopping in Celadon with her friends this weekend,'_ he thought, sighing and standing up. _'She steals the batteries, then runs off with her friends without returning them! Typical May.' _

Gary squinted his eyes, glaring down the empty space. If looks could kill, and if empty spaces were living creatures, there would be a whole mess of death going on. He then sighed and rolled his eyes. This problem wasn't going to be solved the easy way, it appeared. He would have to find batteries somewhere in the house if he was going to watch TV the proper way, the lazy-man's way.

'_If I were a pair of double-a batteries, where would I hide?_' Gary thought, tapping his finger to the side of his smooth cheek. He scanned the room for a viable location. The TV sat on a TV stand, within which one could find old VHS tapes that hadn't seen the light of day in years. Two racks, one to either side of the television, held the entire Oak DVD collection. There was a sturdy mahogany bookshelf in the corner, which stood catty-corner and contained an array of pokemon fiction. Research books would not be found in this room.

"The Living Room is no place for pokemon research," Professor Oak had said on the matter, "we need to keep our work and home lives as separate as possible."

The leather arm chair certainly didn't hope to hide any batteries that would be useable, nor did the overstuffed couch Gary had planned on using during his channel-surfing quest. The coffee table and couch-side table were uncluttered, meaning he wouldn't find anything there. Gary then spotted the desk on the other side of the room. It had drawers; desk drawers are a place where odds and ends gravitate.

'_Alright,we'll start with the desk,"_ Gary thought, his inner-voice groaning the thought mentally.

Gary trudged over to the desk and yanked the left-most drawer open. He pulled with such force that the entire drawer came out of its socket. It was completely empty, and much lighter than he'd been expecting. He tried to push the drawer back onto its track and into the hole, but it wouldn't go. Gary grabbed both sides of the drawer and pushed as hard as he could, then shimmied it back and forth. Finally, the drawer slid back into place.

Gary grabbed the handle on the middle drawer and pulled, more gently this time. The drawer stood fast in its spot. He growled. Gary yanked again, this time using a little more force, but the drawer remained firmly in its place. He grabbed onto the handle with both of his hands, extended his leg behind him to brace himself, and then used all his strength to pull. The drawer moved an inch, revealing that it was piled high with papers.

"Seriously?" he questioned, with clear aggravation carrying in his voice. Just as he was about to try the third , right-most drawer, the phone rang from the kitchen. Gary ran through the kitchen door and switched on the videophone. A sweet, high-pitched voice danced out of the receiver.

"Why hello, dear brother! Is Grandpa around?" May asked, smiling.

"May. No, he's off in Viridian for the day, taking a break,"Gary replied.

"Oh, well. I'll try again later!" she chirped, reaching to hang up the phone.

"WAIT!"

"Yes? What's wrong?"

"May. Where did you put the batteries?" Gary questioned, squinting at her.

"What batteries?" she asked, a look of confusion coming over her face.

"The batteries to the remote control," Gary explained.

"What? Why would I know that?" May responded, raising her eyebrow.

"The batteries are missing! You must've taken them, and I can't find any anywhere!" Gary pressed, starting to lose his calm demeanor again. He was desperate. He wanted TV. He wanted relaxation.

"Well, I didn't do anything with them."

"May, you must've, I—" Gary insisted, before being cut off.

"You shouldn't always blame me when you lose stuff. Anyway, I gotta go. I'll try again later. Bye!" she said, hanging up the phone before Gary could respond.

'_Figures she'd forget what she did with them. Man,'_ he thought, hanging up the phone and returning to the living room.

At this point, Gary gave up the search for batteries. He just wanted to relax, anyway, and the search for batteries was proving futile. He walked over to the TV, turned it on, and then picked out the movie channel. If he could find a movie he liked, he wouldn't need to change the channel until the movie was over. Gladiator was just starting.

'_AWESOME. I haven't seen this movie in forever!' _he thought, hurrying to the couch. He picked up a brownie, ate them, and then washed it down with a large swig of milk. Maybe it wouldn't be such a terrible day. You can't expect things to be perfect, right? There's always a few bumps along the way. He didn't need those stinkin' batteries, anyway. Gruesome, combat movies and brownies? What could be better than that!

Just as Gary settled into the idea of a peaceful morning of gore and baked goods, the phone beckoned him again.

"DAMNIT. Always when I'm busy doing something important," he said, exhaling heavily and pulling himself up off the couch. He ran into the kitchen, and answered the phone. He was greeted with a frantic-looking Nurse Joy on the other end of the line. He recognized her as the Nurse Joy from Vermillion City. She looked ready to pull out her hair in frustration.

"Good morning Gary, is Professor Oak available? It's urgent…" she trailed off, fatigue creeping into her otherwise pleasant voice.

"Good morning Nurse Joy. I'm sorry, but he's not available. He's in Viridian for the day. Can I take a message?" Gary said, grabbing the pen and pad that lay on the counter near the phone.

"Oh, oh no… this is not good at all. We really need to speak with Professor Oak… it's a matter of pokemon health. There's a serious problem here, Gary… is there any way we could reach him?" Nurse Joy looked absolutely exhausted now, like she was reaching the brink of her sanity.

"I'm sorry… my Grandpa forgot his cell phone here, like he usually does, and I don't know where he was planning to go. He should be back later, around dinner. What's wrong?" Gary pressed, now curious about the serious health matter.

"Well… I can't say much, because I'm not entirely sure what's going on. We were hoping Professor Oak might shed some light on the matter. 3 pokemon, from 3 completely different trainers, were brought to the pokemon center last night and this morning. They're gravely ill… at first, we thought it was just fatigue from battle and travel, but…" she trailed off.

"But?"

"They just aren't responding to anything we've done… I've never seen anything like it in all my years of working here. "

"They aren't responding? That's strange… very strange…" Gary said, pondering the situation outloud.

Suddenly, he heard a loud knocking on the front door, located in the living room. Gary turned his head toward the direction of the noise. "JUST A MINUTE!" he yelled. He turned to look back at the video screen. "Has this been happening at any other pokemon centers?"

"Well… I talked to some of the other centers around Kanto, but none of them have seen anything like this," Nurse Joy said, worry and confusion taking over her features.

Again, someone pounded on the front door. This time, it was even louder than the first. It sounded as though someone were going to break down the door at any second if it went unanswered.

"I'm sorry Nurse Joy, someone is at the door and they don't sound like they're in a waiting mood. I'll tell Gramps to call you as soon as he gets in," Gary said, glancing back toward the direction of the door.

"Thanks Gary, goodbye," Nurse Joy said before hanging up the phone.

Gary put the receiver back in its holder, ran out of the kitchen and into the living room, and finally pulled open the door, revealing a very upset looking Ash Ketchum. Gary recognized the two standing behind him as Brock Slate and Misty Waterflower, both of whom also wore similarly upset expressions. They were all soaked in sweat and out of breath, looking like they'd just come in from running a marathon. Pikachu was nestled in Ash's arms.

"What do you want, Ash? I don't sign autographs on Saturdays," Gary said, smirking.

Ash's look of concern changed to a look of stone-faced anger. He glared back at Gary. He and Gary weren't rivals anymore, but even so, Gary still liked to pick at Ash. On a normal day, he could take Gary's ridicule and smart remarks. Today was not one of those days. Gary picked up on this and, glancing down again at Pikachu, realized something more serious was happening.

"Ash. What's wrong?" Gary questioned, adopting a serious tone.

"Is Professor Oak around? We need to talk to him," Brock responded for Ash.

"Everybody seems to be looking for him today. He's not here," Gary answered.

The trio's faces fell. They needed to see the professor, and they needed to see him now. This was not a matter that could wait. Ash dropped his head and stared at the ground, clutching Pikachu in his arms closer to his chest. His black hair draped over his eyes, completely obscuring Gary's view of his face. Brock maintained his position, staring at Gary. Misty closed her eyes and moved her right hand up to her forehead. She shoke her head back and forth, looking defeated.

"Look, if you guys want to come inside and explain what's going on, maybe I can help," Gary offered.

The three followed Gary inside, where he gestured for them to have a seat. The three took seats on the couch, Brock sitting on one end, Ash sitting on the other, and Misty sitting in the middle. Gary took note that Misty sat much closer to Ash than she did to Brock. Interesting! He didn't think Ash would ever figure out the opposite sex existed, much less have luck actually finding one to date. Gary fetched a chair from the kitchen and brought it out, positioning it in front of the coffee table so he could look at the three face-to-face. He then turned to the TV, switched it off, and took a seat.

"Alright. Now, what's wrong?" he asked again, looking Ash straight in the face as he did so.

"We don't know, Gary. Pikachu is sick, but we don't know what's wrong," Ash began, opening his arms a bit to better reveal Pikachu, "He was fine, and then he fainted. We weren't battling, we were just in the yard!"

Gary looked down at the yellow mass of fur in Ash's arms. Pikachu was breathing, but just barely. He looked totally spent of energy. This was not the Pikachu Gary was used to seeing around Ash, or really, normal for any Pikachu. They were energetic pokemon by nature. What could've happened to Pikachu to cause such a reaction?

"What else—" Gary started, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. He sighed and stood up, looking towards the kitchen door. "I'll be right back." The trio nodded in unison. They remained sitting on the couch in silence as Gary strode through the door. He picked up the phone and saw Nurse Joy appear on the screen. This was not the Nurse Joy of Vermillion City, but of Lavender Town.

"Hello, Gary. Is Professor Oak available? It's urgent," Nurse Joy asserted. She too looked absolutely worn out. Dark circles hung under her eyes, and her skin looked a little pale.

"No. Is this about mysteriously ill pokemon?" Gary asked, recognizing the concern and putting the pieces together.

"…Y—ehrm, yes, as a matter of fact, we have a few pokemon here who are too fatigued to move, and they aren't responding to anything we've tried," Joy responded, surprise creeping into her response.

"Yeah, another Nurse Joy called earlier, and now Ash Ketchum is here with a similar problem. Professor Oak isn't here right now, but he will be back soon. Could you do me a favor, and call the other pokemon centers to relay that information?"

"Okay… we'll start the phone tree. But, please have him call us as soon—"

"—We'll have him call as soon as he gets in. We'll be in touch, I promise," Gary affirmed, nodding his head to strengthen his argument. "I have to go. Ash's Pikachu looks critical."

Gary hung up the phone and returned to the other room, where Ash, Misty, and Brock remained sitting quietly.

"Pikachu might not be the only one with the same problem. Let's go to the lab; I want to start getting a look at Pikachu myself," Gary suggested.

"Maybe we should wait for Professor Oa—" Ash said warily, but was interrupted by Gary.

"I may not be Professor Oak, but you're dealing with the next best thing!" Gary said, puffing out his chest, turning his head to the side, and directing his nose to the ceiling. He then side-glanced to the trio, and smirked. "Alright, alright. Just come on."

- End Chapter 1-

**(A/N**: Hello again everyone! So, here's the beginnings of my second fic. This is also GAML, egoshipping. Don't flame me based on my choice in pairing... that's just a silly reason to flame someone. In fact, flaming in general is kind of childish. _**Constructive**_ criticism is welcomed! Read and review please. This particular chapter is a bit long, I know. I've already started a bit on chapter 2, but the editing is a lengthy process that will be greatly improved by your input. This will be a fun time to write! I'm already excited!)


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